Imitation – More Than Just Flattery
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
Oscar Wilde might have insinuated that one imitates someone else because one admires and respects that person, but there are often other underlying causes for imitation that we carry out in our everyday lives, which can involve a much wider scope than emulating the behavior of a single person.
In his article “The Science Behind Why People Follow the Crowd,” Rob Henderson reiterates the author Cialdini’s belief that labelling products as “fastest-growing” or “best-selling” is so effective because “advertisers don’t have to persuade us that a product is good, they only need to say others think so.” Since “most of us do not have time to increase our knowledge of all merchandise and research every advertised item to measure its usefulness,” simply assuming that “popular is good” and following the crowd simplifies our decision making and serves as a mental shortcut in navigating our lives. As discussed in class, this mindset of following the crowd could be interpreted as demonstrating a social pressure to conform, which grows stronger as the group conforming to the activity, product, or idea becomes larger. However, it is also likely rooted in the idea of information cascades, or herding — in the case of consumer goods, if a certain product is popular and commonly talked about, someone who doesn’t know much about it can infer that others are more knowledgeable about the product, and thus conclude that it would be rational to imitate their choices and also purchase the good.
The article describes a study in which a man named Albert Bandura and his colleagues used crowd following and herding to help a group of children overcome their fear of dogs. For 20 minutes a day for four days, the children watched a four-year-old boy happily play with a dog. After this four day period, the fear of dogs was reduced in 67% of the children, as they were willing to enter a playpen with a dog. These children “used the behavior of a boy playing with a dog as a model to change their own behavior” — as they watch a child similar to them have so much fun with the object of their fear, they can infer that the boy knows something that they don’t. Thus, his information is more powerful than the children’s initial private information that dogs are scary creatures. This is an example of an information cascade, where it is rational for an individual to imitate the choices of others even if the individual’s own information suggests an alternative choice.
Imitating the behavior of others has always been natural and instinctual for humans, whether the motivation is out of respect, or more often, to personally benefit from valuable information. Following the crowd can be very beneficial as long as people still value their own opinions but can draw rational inferences with an open mind.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/after-service/201705/the-science-behind-why-people-follow-the-crowd